Oil filter

Q

Qwerty123il

Member +
Hi,
On the way home from work yesterday my oil filter blew off. I managed to save the engine before it ceased, and have fitted a new filter and refilled the oil and the car is running ok.
Basically my question is, it went pop and it blew off, now could that be caused by the garage not fitting it properly? I spoke to them and they said if it was loose oil would have been spewing out etc etc. Since the last oil change, that car has been using more oil than before it. There was also a rattle coming from the engine, which has stopped since the new filter has been fitted. It didn't do it before the last oil change.
All of those things seem to suggest it being loose, as if it was attached correctly and blew off rather than unscrewing, the thread on both the old filter and the engine would not be in perfect condition/undamaged surely?
If you could let me know if they are correct or just covering them selves please let me know as I don't want to start accusing if I am wrong!
Thanks
 
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B

bongskag

Member +
do you have an oil pressure gauge ? you may have super high oil pressure cause by a stuck pressure relief valve, its in the sump and controls how your oil pressure is regulated.

its a 12mm/14mm deep looking bolt with a cir-clip on the top holding a spring and a washer back.. its always worth a clean if you have the sump off as it is small and any gunk will clog it fairly quickly.

there's a trick to raise oil pressure by inserting a very thin washer (.2mm/.3mm?) in between the cir-clip and the other washer, this puts more tension on the spring holding the oil back from returning until it has reached the higher pressure!,

lets just say people heard about this and put the wrong sized washers in ( just a normal looking washer instead of a thin one ) oil pressure was raised so much that oil filters started blowing off and shooting oil everywhere,

this is the only time I've heard of it happening, so check that relief valve. you might even find two washers in there !
 
B

bongskag

Member +
it shouldn't have unless someone messed with it, but that's how it works with that relief valve. It probably just needs a clean.
Im sure there could be other cause as-well. hopefully someone else has come across this happening before..
 
B

bongskag

Member +
just 1 , the factory washer, you add another to put more force on the spring

but its not really necessary unless you got really low pressure, bit of a last resort really, yours might just need cleaning, (just a suggestion...)
was your oil light coming on before it blew ?
 
dark_knight

dark_knight

Member +
oil pressure build-up

i'm wondering, what's the max safe oil pressure that these engines are able to handle..? my oil pressure gauge gets to right about 6bar in the mornings as i'm granny driving to work waiting for temps to rise -- i never wander too far from 25 hundred revs when the oil is cold. i've got a 5MT so it's a tad easier to control revs. i've also got 20w50 oil in it right now..
 
Q

Qwerty123il

Member +
bongskag said:
just 1 , the factory washer, you add another to put more force on the spring

but its not really necessary unless you got really low pressure, bit of a last resort really, yours might just need cleaning, (just a suggestion...)
was your oil light coming on before it blew ?
Click to expand...
No it had been flickering a bit a few days before but not on the day or the day before, the light would come on when it was idoling it would flicker very slightly.
The light came on when it happened obviously!
Also if it blew off, would both threads be perfectly intact?
 
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A

AdamB

Member +
If the oil pressure light had been flickering that's to do with low pressure. Check and make sure that the connectors are on the pressure switch properly, on the front of the block underneath the exhaust manifold.
 
S

Skalabala

Member +
Poor quality filter will be able to do that I guess.
Dark night buddy isn't there a pressure regulator in the block? Should not be able to go past 6bar?
 
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